


She Added With Feeling, 'Idiot'

by free_bee



Series: In the Middle Before I Knew I Had Begun [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: College Years, Future Fic, Iron Fam, Irondad, MJ and Peter future, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Not written in order, One Shot Collection, Spideychelle, Working at Stark Industries, but posted in order, happy endings, it's confusing for me hopefully it works for you, one shots, tags to be added as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22025626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/free_bee/pseuds/free_bee
Summary: The second part to 'I Think You Mean Jones-Parker' after MJ and Peter have moved in together. Follow along with their relationship and their family of Starks from after high school to the next big step in their lives.Don't have to read the first part, but highly recommended.
Relationships: Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Pepper Potts, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Avengers, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: In the Middle Before I Knew I Had Begun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1585312
Comments: 31
Kudos: 275





	1. ...But It's Home

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO!!
> 
> Welcome back to everyone who has been following me already, and welcome to everyone coming in now :) I've been so excited to post this next part, I wanted to post the first chapter sooner than planned. Just like the last story, I won't be keeping a regular schedule, what with school and life in general, so don't be marking calendars. 
> 
> We're starting with some cute MJ/Peter and we'll be ending with some MJ/Peter :) don't get too overloaded, but I warn you now --- This is NOT canon-compliant, and I take liberties where I like.

Peter woke up on Sunday feeling bone-tired. 

Work had been a bit of a hard-ass lately, with his new and very first version of a StarkPad being released in another week and a half. It wasn’t much more than an updated version of a pre-existing tablet Tony had released himself, but it was the first project he’d headed on his own, and had his name stamped on the patent. Tony and Pepper had held a little party for him last night, and he was still so tired from it, he couldn’t remember what year it was. 

Groaning as he rolled over, Peter’s hand made a sweeping motion over the bed. No barricade came in contact, which had his head popping up from the pillow to look around with bleary eyes. MJ wasn’t in bed, and the covers were cold on her side which could only mean he’d slept in  _ a lot _ . He tried to grope around for his phone before remembering he’d actually plugged it in in the kitchen before going to bed, and let out another groan. 

Deciding it wasn’t worth it to lay in bed without his girlfriend or his phone, Peter dragged himself out of his warm bed and into the bathroom. After a very hot shower where he almost turned himself into a lobster, Peter redressed himself into pajamas and shuffled out of the bedroom. The windows were open letting in the bright morning light that unfortunately reflected off the coffee table directly into his eyes, and he may have hissed like a cat.

“Are you  _ hissing _ ?” MJ’s voice drifts over to him, and Peter has to shield his eyes to be able to see her reclined on their couch with a sherpa blanket thrown over her legs and a book in her lap. Peter shuffles over to her and collapses on the couch, curling up so his head was right next to her book and his feet could be tucked underneath the giant floor cushion he generally kept off the floor. 

“Might be. It’s your stupid table that made me do it,” he grumbles into her lap, but forgets about the slight when her hand runs through his curls and her tries not to re-emulate a cat by purring. 

“You agreed the table was a good choice, it’s partially your fault too.”

“I just agreed to get us out of that store, MJ. I don’t like it, happy now?” Peter grumbles further, too tired not to be grumpy. Luckily for him, MJ is in a good mood and just hums as she continues to pet his hair.

“Good to know, now I can return it. Pepper owes me a ten,”

“You’re both conniving jerks,”

“Thank you darling, sweet, handsome boyfriend of mine. I love you too,”

“Suck an egg,” Peter burrows under her blanket, making her chuckles fade away under the fluffy sherpa. 

The whole hour that it takes Peter to wake up makes him decide today is definitely stay out of the office type of day. He wasn’t sure what MJ’s plans were, but judging by her current state of comfiness, he figures he’s safe to assume she is just as unwilling to leave their home. 

And it was a comfy home, one he had trouble leaving most days. It had taken them a few months, but MJ and Peter had collaborated on every little piece of their new ‘apartment’ to make a haven they both flourished in. It was officially the new year, and they had deemed their interior designing to be finished, with perhaps a bit of room for additions as they seemed fit. The living space was a comforting blue with giant cloud white cushions of varying size, shape and fluffiness on both couches. There was a basket of blankets next to the raw bookshelf positioned behind MJ’s favourite shaped couch, ready for her to read at all times. The tv was stationed to face the other couch, which had its own pillow and blanket assortment with the cursed coffee table in front of it. The table held a bowl meant for Peter’s candy and a compartment beneath it to house file, folders and work the couple brought upstairs with them. The rug beneath them was a weaved piece MJ had found at a flea market that was so big it spanned the entire length of the living space up to the hall that led to the bedrooms, and the kitchen/dining room. At one end of the rug, there was also a hanging hammock that Peter had strung up happily, especially once MJ forbid webs as temporary furniture. 

The kitchen was Peter’s pride and joy — filled with nice yellows and reds and pretty stainless steel appliances. MJ had been surprised at how well the area had come out especially when they had forgotten to collaborate on the colour scheme of their open faced area, but it fit them. There was a lovely table set up by their balcony doors that MJ was beginning to collect plants on, finding she missed seeing natural things when they spent so much time in a tower. 

The bedrooms were still technically in progress, but theirs was nearly finished anyway in deep blues that made MJ sleepy just looking at, so she figured it was an ok time to call it quits. There wasn’t much use for the other bedrooms anyways. 

All in all, the floor they were on was a haven for them both that suited their personalities and general want to be cozy all the time. 

Peter curls further into MJ’s legs, tucking his arm around her and effectively trapping her against the couch.

“Staying here are you?” MJ hums, trailing the fingers that had been in his hair down his back, tracing the nodules of his spine. Peter nods into her legs, bad mood gone but sleepiness still prevalent, “Well just a warning, but Ned invited himself over. He said, and I quote, ‘You officially have a bigger tv than me, so Star Wars nights happen at your place now.”

Peter snorts, giving her a squeeze, “Prepare to be involved in the ultimate nerd experience now every month.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t warn me about this before I agreed to live with you,”

“I knew it was a deal breaker, I had to withhold information in order to trap you.”

“Mmm, entrapment, just what every girl likes to hear from her boyfriend.”

It’s only another hour of cuddling and being comfy on their couch before Friday is warning the couple about the impending interference that is their best friend. Peter still refuses to get up though, so MJ is forced to greet Ned at the elevator from her spot still in the couch corner. Ned had visited his friend's new floor before, but had not been since before Christmas and before everything was deemed worthy. Therefore he stepped off the elevator already looking around with wide eyes. 

“ _ Dude _ ,” Ned says, spinning around to look behind him before facing them again. MJ is watching him with her usual plat expression, but Peter is grinning up at him from beneath his arms, “ _ nice place _ .” 

“Thanks Ned,” Peter says, sitting up enough to just smile at his friend before snuggling back into MJ. Ned rolls his eyes at them but doesn’t actually care. He finds his friend’s adorable, but he’s not allowed to say that outloud. 

Ned flops onto the opposite couch, the one that faces the tv more than MJ’s, “Is this movie thing happening right now? Cause I might seriously want to die on this couch.” Ned snuggles down, accepting the blanket MJ throws his way. 

Peter perks up, “I’m down for an all day movie night. MJ?”

MJ looks down at Peter, quirking a brow, “So, that meeting we had together isn’t happening then?” Peter tries to look sheepish, but he’s already too excited for Star Wars all day, and the look comes out more slap-happy, “It’s fine, you two losers enjoy yourself. I’m going to go down to see Pepper for a bit, then I’ll meet you back here after lunch.”

Peter agrees and flops out on the couch as soon as MJ has wiggled her way out from underneath him. She leans down and receives a kiss from him before she leaves, tossing a wave to Ned as well. Ned watches her leave before looking over at Peter who is already queuing up Friday to start Episode I. 

“Dude, your life is weird,”

Peter looks over at Ned with a confused frown, “How do you mean?” Ned just rolls his eyes good naturedly. 

It’s one and a half Star Wars movies later than the boys hear the elevator ding again, without prior notice from Friday. Peter already has a feeling who it could be, but stays focused on the tv, trying to hide his grin. Sure enough, little pattering feet step off the elevator, followed by the more familiar steps of MJ. 

Ned looks over the couch, finally hearing Morgan and MJ’s footsteps and gasping at the sight of the adorable baby, “Oh. My. Gosh,”

“PETEY!” Morgan shouts, launching over the side of the couch (with a little added assistance from MJ) to land directly over Peter’s head. Both of them let out a ‘oof’ but Morgan is giggling and scrambling before the three young adults can wince, giggling so hard she can barely handle pushing herself up into a sitting position on Peter’s chest. Luckily, Peter is well versed in the art of letting Morgan do what she wants, and leaves a supporting hand on the little girl’s back.

“Hello Morgie, just what do you think you’re doing?” Peter asks playfully, receiving a sweet dimpled grin in response and a flurry of hand waving that seems to indicate her over excitement of surprising her brother, “You’re silly,” Peter teases, and Morgan just about falls over she’s giggling so hard.

“I picked up a stray on my way back. Stark says it’s our turn to babysit since they’re on date night,” MJ says over her shoulder as she enters the kitchen, looking for a snack for the whole group. 

Peter cringes, giving Morgan a big pout, “Ew baby, Mommy and Daddy are being yucky upstairs? Don’t worry, I’ll protect your young eyes.” He cuddles the girl to his chest, heart melting when he receives Morgan’s head laying heavily on his chest in comfort.

“Like you two are any better,” Ned mumbles but starts the movie again after an expert dodge of a cheese puff from MJ. Peter just smiles, enjoying the feeling of the baby heavy on his chest, his best friend complaining in the background and his girlfriend sitting back down next to him to share her snack. 


	2. Nebulous Nebula

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few Guardians come for a visit, though no one seems willing to say it's because of a certain Guardian.

It was a pretty drizzly Tuesday afternoon that Peter found himself reclining back in his lab chair, spinning around to face his window overlooking most of Manhattan. When picking out his lab space on his new floor, Tony had been sure to set up his main workspace by a window facing towards Queens, something he had been pretty emotional over when he’d discovered this neat little tick. Peter spent so much time in this lab, especially now with his newest leadership on one of the R&D labs, that he sometimes missed being able to see the city. He hadn’t even been out as Spider-Man in a week, bogged down with idea after idea he couldn’t wait to begin with Karen and Friday.

This Tuesday was beginning to look up, however, when a bright orange and blue spaceship broke through the grey clouds hanging over New York. 

Peter sat straight up in his chair, “Holy shit!” he scrambled out of his seat, rushing to the window, “Friday, are you getting this?”

“Affirmative, Peter. Boss has also been notified.” Friday’s voice answers him immediately, pauses, and then says, “Boss has told me to tell you to ‘Stand down’.”

Peter looks over to her nearest camera, “Stand down? Are you sure Fri?”

“Yes Peter, Boss says he is on his way to the old Avengers compound to meet with the newcomers. Would you like me to tell him you will be joining him?”

Peter was nodding and moving all at once, collecting his jacket (read: MJ’s jacket, but what she didn’t know won’t hurt her) and rushing to the elevator, “I’m coming now!”

—

“Not sure why they thought coming without warning was a good idea, but really, knowing Quill this doesn’t really surprise me.” Tony mumbles to himself as he zips through the stand-still traffic. Peter, used to the fast paced driving of his dad, simply clutches the side of his seat out of view of Tony, in silent terror.

“I didn’t know you kept in contact with the Guardians, Mr. Stark,” Peter says once they’ve officially left the outskirts of the city, and are now forty-five minutes away from the old compound. 

Tony hums, “Not really ‘contact’, more like the occasional call from at least one of them, just to say ‘hi’ or settle bet.” Peter looks over at Tony, noting the man’s chin set, and lips curled inwards. He looked unhappy with this declaration, but Peter didn’t know enough to ask. 

It wasn’t the getting there that was the problem, it was traversing the uneven ground of the land. The remnants of the Avengers battle against Thanos had been seized and cleared by SHIELD soon after, leaving the old compound mostly barren. The ground was uneven everywhere, hills nearly the size of small mountains in sporadic patterns. Burn marks and impacts in the ground could be seen in the patches of green and brown grass, marking the exact movements of both armies as they met in the middle with a clash. Peter hadn’t been back since the battle, unlike Tony who had had to revisit many times. Especially with the new building plans overhead. 

Now Peter stood next to the older man, overlooking the battle strewn ground he had once spent whole evenings on, working on Spider-Man tech and trials with Tony; relaxing in the grass with homework; trying to entice Mr. Stark into playing Iron Man vs. Spider-Man tag. It was ruined now, the thought of any type of relaxation gone with the memories of the hardest fight of his life. 

And now, the bright orange spaceship was hovering over a relatively flat spread of grass, landing delicately and quickly powering down. Tony walked forward to meet it as soon as the engines powered down, and Peter felt it necessary to follow his dad as he walked towards an unknown spaceship. 

“We are sure this is the Guardians, right?” 

“Not sure about the whole crew, but I heard from Quill and Nebula, so we should be in the clear.” Tony says and then they’re a few hundred feet away, and the ramp lowers to reveal only half of the team. 

Quill, Gamora, Groot, and Nebula are standing there, waving down at Tony and Peter. 

“Stark! Good to see you man!” Quill says, hopping and skipping down the ramp to be the first one out. Groot and Gamora are not far behind, with Nebula being the cautious one as always, taking up the back. 

“Quill,” Tony nods, taking the man’s hand as he reaches them to shake. He nods at Groot, “Sapling,”

Groot answers back in an indignant tone, “I am  _ Groot _ ,”

Gamora rolls her eyes, “You’re practically a teenager,”

“I am Groot,” Groot nods, looking like Gamora proved his point, but Gamora only gives him a look so reminiscent of Pepper, that Peter feels he knows exactly what the two aliens are saying.

“Teenagers are still kids, Groot. Unless you change your attitude, you’re losing Quill’s game until we ship out.” Gamora glares at Groot when he makes a whining noise, but the tree settles down when he realises she is being very serious. So, he quiets down and takes out what looks like a hand made GameBoy and begins playing it. From what Peter can see through the hologram screen, Groot is pretty good at it. 

“Sorry, kids,” Quills shrugs, and Tony chortles.

“Don’t worry, I get it,” He grins over his shoulder at Peter and Peter tries not to feel indignant but he still can’t help rolling his eyes a bit.

“Quill, you remember my kid? Peter, this is Gamora, don’t remember if you met her,”

Quill smiled at Peter as he grabbed his hand in a shake, “Good you see you again man.” Gamora smiles over Quill’s shoulder at Peter, who tries  _ very _ hard not to blush under the pretty green woman’s gaze. 

“Yeah, likewise,” Peter says, accepting the handshake, “Sorry I’m not in the loop, but what brings you guys to Earth?” 

Gamora’s smile slips a bit, but she smiles forcefully again when she looks over her shoulder towards Nebula, who has still not completely left the ramp, “Just to—”

“Do not answer for me, sister. I still have my tongue,” Nebula’s deeper husky voice says in reprimand of her sister’s obvious care, but Gamora does not seem to be offended by it. Peter watches as Nebula walks forward, her legs seeming to carry her just fine, though she seems tired and sluggish.

Tony’s eyes were much better trained than Peter’s when it came to the cyborg woman. He watched Nebula with professional scrutiny as she walked towards them, trying to keep her face blank and uncaring, but he can see the way her one eye twitches over to him multiple times, and he has a feeling he understands why the Guardians are visiting. 

“Nebula, sweetheart, good to see you.” Tony greets her, ignoring the way Quill looks at him like he’s the biggest idiot in the galaxy. 

Nebula looks at Tony fully now, and the twitchiness of her eye settles on his fully, “Hello Stark, it is good to see you,”

“Yeah, much better than last time, I hope,” Tony grins, stepping forward one step. Peter stays back, but can see Quill looking shifty, and Gamora a bit unsure. Groot is too invested in his game to care.

“You seem to be in top Terran form for your age now, yes,” Nebula assesses him with a quick up-down glance. Tony chuckles, taking another couple steps forwards.

“Ouch, but I’ll take it,” he reaches her in the next step, but doesn’t move to shake her hand or touch her at all. Instead, he smiles softly and Peter can see the genuine smile he saves for their family take over his face. “I’ve missed you, Smurfette,”

Nebula makes a mechanical snorting noise, but raises her fist to bump, perhaps a bit harshly, at his shoulder, “I suppose I also missed your cadence, Stark,”

Tony claps his hands together, “Awesome. So, we going out for dinner and a show? How can I help you aliens?”

Gamora rolls her eyes, “Just came for a visit, Stark. We even left Rocket behind to make sure this was a pleasant visit,”

Tony laughs along with them, but Peter is still left a bit confused by Nebula. How did Tony seem to know her so well?

Tony arranges transport for the visiting aliens, leaving their ship behind as they go back into the city. Peter is reminded of his love for his oblivious city when people barely blink at the sight of very obviously alien people walking past them. Tony gets more stares than the literal green woman with a katana. 

— 

After a long day of visiting, Gamora and Quill decide they need to get Groot to bed. Tony allows them to take up one of the empty Avengers floors, citing its purpose is a guest room of sorts anyways. Gamora nodded her thanks as Quill almost drags Groot away from Peter and Morgan, who had been trying to climb his roots they whole visit.

Nebula stayed behind though, sitting silently as she seemed to just watch and listen to Tony and Pepper talking, to Pepper and Morgan communicating through stilted words and love, to Tony and Peter sharing some inside jokes amidst the conversation, to Peter and the newly arrived MJ as they sit together and automatically lean in to one another. Through it all, Tony continued to glance at her.

MJ was the first to fall, leaning heavily on Peter’s shoulder as she fell asleep. Peter laughed at her when she jolted back awake, not even bothering to look scared at her groggy glare. Instead, he swept her up into his arms, gaining a squawk from MJ and a clapping giggle from Morgan as he announced, like an obnoxious knight in shining armour, that he was taking his lady to bed before she fell into a cursed sleep. Morgan found this hilarious, giggles following her brother as her sister futilly called him an idiot and struggled not very hard. 

It wasn’t much longer that the pep Peter gave Morgan disappeared and the little girl began listing to the side as well. Pepper swooped her daughter up, allowed Tony to give Morgan a kiss to her nose, and went up the stairs to put Morgan to bed. Tony waited a few minutes, making sure he wasn’t going to be needed before looking over at Nebula. 

The blue woman was sunk into the couch, her shoulders slumped under the blanket Morgan had tossed at her, her eyes downcast on the plush rug she pushed her toes back and forth through. Tony waited a few more minutes to see if she would do anything different, but she continued to ignore her surroundings. 

Tony claps his hands together, “Well, I’m heading down to the labs, wanna join me?”

Nebula looks up for the first time in a while, her face carefully blank, “Are you not also retiring for the night?”

“Nope. Kid said he had some things for me to look over anyways, so I may as well. You can keep me company, come on.” And with than Tony led the way down to his lab, Nebula following silently behind. The doors opened without any fanfare, and Tony gestured around. “Take a load off, fiddle with something, say hi to the boys, whatever. You’re a big girl, you should know your way around scientific Terran material, right?”

Nebula shrugs as she moves over to a table Peter worked at occasionally, “I suppose. Though I recall your ‘scientific material’ is a little less dated than the rest of your planet’s, Stark.” 

Tony smiles, proud of the small compliment but doesn’t bring attention to it. They spend the next hour working in near silence, with the occasional question or nudge from Tony, and the corresponding one word answer from Nebula. Another half an hour later, and Tony decides to break the ice a bit. 

“How have things been with your newly rebanded gang?”

Nebula shrugs, but Tony can see the new stiffness to her shoulders, “Fine, Gamora is happy to have been returned to her family.”

Tony lets that one lay, “And how are  _ you _ ?”

Nebula looks at him now, her voice dropping to a more dangerous level, “I am fine.”

“Yeah?” Tony says, looking pointedly at her arm. The one that had been locked up during their entire visit.

“Yes,”

“I noticed your arm,”

“What, that its not blue?”

“More like that its not moving.”

“Oh,” Nebula says, her voice softer now, “it has gone through a false recalibration. My regular coding was destroyed along with… Thanos.” Tony is secretly very glad the words ‘my father’ did not come out of her mouth. 

“So you’ve been ignoring it?” Tony asks, as he starts collecting various tools, putting some in his pockets, some in one hand and a couple smaller screwdrivers in his mouth. Nebula shrugs, “It is not a big deal. I’ve had worse,”

“Yeah? So have I kid, and no one should have to deal with their own tech hurting them. Now get over here,” Tony gestures sharply with his head to the couch, and Nebula follows him without question. He pushes her down gently, allowing her to be settled before he sits next to her and pulled her arm onto his lap. 

She is still stiff and formal as he assesses her control panels, and he notices right away, so motions to Friday, “Fri girl, put on the Queen playlist Peter made,”

“Got it Boss,” and the soothing beginning of Bohemian Rhapsody played while Tony popped open the first panel.

Tony whistles when he gets his first glance into the butchered, messy wiring, “You’ve had some cowboys in here, sweetheart,”

Nebula refuses to look as she replies, “I have had to resort to second hand parts, Stark.”

Tony hums, and prods a bit further. He immediately winces when he sees the pieces of shrapnel from who knows what pushing against a circuit board, “Nebula, why haven’t you fixed yourself properly? None of this looks comfortable. Cadmium hurts like a bitch against skin.”

Nebula is quiet and still, enough so to make Tony look up from her circuits, “Nebula?”

“I did not wish to interfere.” She whispered so quietly Tony can’t hear her. He orders the music to stop and he leans in to ask again, “Nebula, sweetheart, it’s just you and me. We’ve been through enough together for you to know you can trust me.”

Her face turns to him, and Tony can see the humanity left behind all the tortured cyborg bits of this alien girl, tortured and afraid as she whispers, “I missed you.”

Tony sits back a bit now that he has his answer to smile at her, “I missed you too kiddo,”

Nebula huffs, “I missed your talking mostly. But I also missed you when my arm stopped. I’ve never had anyone able to understand by wires before and be willing to actually help me.”

“Ah,” Tony whispers back, looking down at the mess of wires he sees with a new light, “I fixed you to fix you. Not to hurt you,”

“Yes,” Nebula says with a conviction Tony had never heard from her before. She seems to be a new type of confident now as she says, “I have never had a figure care for me this way without expecting gratitude in the form of service,” Tony tensed, not liking the ramifications of that, but listens without interrupting, “Gamora has only been the other one to try, though she is not as talented. And my sister, though not related by blood. She had a duty to help me.”

Tony felt his gut churn, but he was resolved when he said, almost flippantly, “Well so do I, sweetheart. We’re family now too, whether you like it or not. You wanna know why?” He looks at her, seeing the almost dumbfounded look in her black eyes, “I care a great deal for my family. In fact, I like fixing things for my family a lot. I fix dinner, I fix boo boos, I fix disagreements, I fix our home, I fix my bots, and I fix their broken parts sometimes too. I’m not perfect, but I know I care for them, and would never harm them. 

“I care very much for my family members, and all of them are family I have chosen. A lot like you and Gamora; you may not be blood related, but that doesn’t mean you can’t care for one another. It’s just like that, I’ve just gotten really good at adopting strays into my family.”

Nebula stares at him, and Tony swears, if she had tear ducts, she would be crying right now. Instead, he puts his head down and continues to rewire her arm, taking care to remove the sharp prices and unnecessary blocks. By the time he is done, Nebula is able to swing her arm around in full movement once again without any pain. 

She stands and tests it, rotating it to its full limit, and pushing even that. Once finished she looks back down at Tony with the biggest smiles he’s ever seen on her face (which is still minuscule in comparison to others). 

“Thank you, Stark,”

Tony stands to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders to initiate contact, knowing she is nowhere near ready for a hug, “It’s Tony, Nebula. My family calls me ‘Tony’ and ‘Dad’, no more Stark.”

Nebula watches him carefully as she says, “I’m not ready for one of those yet, but I can accept Tony as a replaceable name.”

“Music to my ears, kiddo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in love with everyone's reaction to my continuing my writing. Thank you :)


	3. Tony and MJ have a work week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ & Tony feels

May came over the week of Pepper and Peter getting ready to leave for Japan, happy to rifle through Peter’s closet, faux helping him as a way to just talk and visit with the nephew who seemed to have grown in the blink of an eye. MJ sat on the bed across from them with a book in her lap, giving Peter the occasional smirk when he threw an exasperated look at her. May chatted and pulled shirts out, pressing them to him like she was sizing him up. She even threw in a few comments about his shoulders filling out that had him blushing and ignoring MJ’s sly wink thrown his way. 

Of course the mother henning only got worse when Peter finally managed to get May out into the living room to find Tony, Pepper and Morgan reclined in the room. May’s Italian poking and prodding evolved to include Tony’s Italian poking and prodding, where he agreed and brought up more embarrassing attributes of their kid’s growing body. Peter just shoved his head into the crease of pillows like an ostrich and groaned, loudly. May’s helpfulness expanded to the Stark’s when she learned that Happy and Rhodey were having to take care of Morgan for a great deal of the trip, as Tony was going to need to stand in on meetings without Pepper there. She right away mentioned she had a couple weeks of holidays still left, and would gladly take Morgan for the week. 

So the first day of Pepper and Peter’s trip, Tony found himself without a wife, teenager, or small child to talk to and take care of. So, with no meetings to attend until the next day, he gleefully went to the lab to tinker without interruption. 

Of course, after eight hours of uninterrupted work, Tony suddenly found himself looking up more often than looking down, expecting Peter or Morgan to burst in. Or Pepper to walk in with a cup of coffee and a new contract to sign. None of this happened of course, and Tony found himself spiraling at the difference in his life, and the fact that he missed having people around him. 

His downward spiral was interrupted not by the usual people, but by a deep knocking noise that had the glass walls around the lab shaking. Tony's head shoots up, frowning out of the bright white lab to the more darkly lit hallway to find MJ with her fist still hitting the wall in a slower, painfully slow rhythm and a bored look on her face as she stares down at her open tablet.

Shaking his head, Tony calls out to Friday, “Let the impatient child in, Fri,”

MJ still doesn’t look up as she pushes her closed fist into the door for it to pop open and strides in as if there wasn’t even a door that had impeded her way before, “Hey Tony, Pepper left me with a bunch of junk and I noticed there’s, like, a file of things you need to sign before the meeting tomorrow. I figured I’d bring ‘em, otherwise we’d both be angry tomorrow when you forgot or didn’t notice them… what are you doing?”

Tony had been staring at MJ with a weirded out expression, hand raised from the armour he’d been in the middle of (literally), and looked down to realize he’d been soldering the helmet straight onto the chest plate the whole time she’d been talking.

“Ah shit, fuck, that’s not good,” he throws the soldering iron away and tries to pull the helmet off, obviously to no avail, “you weirded me out with your scary resemblance to Pepper. It’s seriously strange.”

“Smooth,” MJ says staring at the mess he’d made with a chaotic smile on her face. Tony sighs and ditches the mess, holding his hand out and making a ‘gimme’ motion. MJ gave him a look, but dutifully passes the tablet over. 

Tony flips through the numerous things he was apparently meant to read and sighs, “Alright, good thing I’m obviously in need of a break here. This looks like it’ll take up the rest of the day.” 

MJ hums, “Yeah good, cause I’ve been doing this all day and am in need of a break. I gladly bestow this burden to you now,” she walks forward to poke at the new Soldered Man suit.

Tony groans, “Ah jeez, don’t poke the poor guy. Frankenstein’s monster didn’t even have to put up with this type of crap,” MJ retreats her finger, giving it a curled lip, “come on, we’ll order in and continue to fry our brains with work, but also in front of a tv. Peter will hate us, but I vote watching the Mandalorian.”

—

At eight o’clock and an hour later, MJ was sitting criss cross applesauce on the ottoman with her laptop open on her lap and paper versions of the business agreements tomorrow’s meeting was about spread around her. She was switching between making her own notes, noting Tony’s positive and negative comments about the contracts, and making notes on their shared views of the company. Tony was sprawled across the couch, with the tablet propped on his chest and Friday on wait in case he needed her to pull up stats. 

Empty pizza boxes were closed up and stacked on the table, the only surface not touched by paper or tech. MJ’s legs were cramping and Tony refused to say anything about the pain in his back, but they were one the third episode of the Mandalorian and both refused to mention that they actually enjoyed it. 

“My eyes have crossed three times in the last five miuntes,” MJ says, breaking the silence of the room. Tony sighs and throws the tablet down, rubbing his hand over his eyes.

“You’re right, this is getting ridiculous. We’re both smart, we can go into that meeting and talk out our asses, and still sound smarter than everyone there. Wanna keep binging the show? Order more pizza? Find some weed? Build a rocket? We could probably get to Mars sooner than NASA at the amount of boredom I’m feeling right now.”

MJ looks over at him with a bewildered frown, “Sorry to break it to you Stark, but Peter is the one who could do most of those with you. I’m the booksmart one.”

“ _ Most _ , she says,” Tony grunts but shrugs, an odd thing to accomplish when lying down, “You got into a STEM school somehow, Jones. I’ll figure you out one of these days.”

MJ chuckles, “Well, if we’re not doing anything productive right now, now's your chance.”

Tony pauses before craning his head up to look at her, “Huh?”

MJ grins twistedly, “While I mostly majored in Social and English, I’m not too shabby at Mathematics, Stark.”

Tony grins, “Ah, twenty questions, I love it,” he claps his hands together, rubbing them diabolically, “and wouldn’t have guessed math. I was thinking Bio or something.”

MJ shrugs, turning herself to better face Tony, “Ironically I can’t get past the dissections. It’s icky,”

“Very icky, but now I know to strike off Wednesday from your lists of nicknames.” Tony nods, making a go on gesture. MJ glares half-heartedly, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Nuh uh, my turn. I wanna know why you give out so many nicknames,” Tony glares but MJ glares back. She knows this is probably a sticky question, but she figures they have to get to know one another whether they like the questions or not. Tony, of course, breaks first.

“It started with Rhodes. I met him in MIT and called him Rhodey, and he kinda just shrugged and moved on. Then I kept doing it to him; platypus, honeybear, whatever. Seeing how much I could do before he got sick of it and left me.”

MJ rears back a bit, shocked she got such an answer, “So… you do it to test people?”

Tony sighs as he leans back into the couch, “I guess so, probably a tick from a bad childhood. Nobody else stuck around long, so I had to check if they were worth my time.”

“Huh,” MJ harrumphs, “you do this with everyone then? It’s not just me?”

Tony gives her a twinkling smile, “How do you think Pepper and Happy got nicknames like that? They’re the closest people I’ve had in my life, for over twenty years. They beat the test, sweetheart.” 

MJ peeks up at him from her still held grumpy slouch, “So I’m gonna end up as Scary Spice for the rest of your life?”

Tony laughs, “No, I’m pretty sure MJ is a good enough nickname,”

—

The next day, Tony burst into the meeting room with MJ right next to him. He kind of liked the absolutely terrified looks MJ was receiving from a number of the older gents in the room, as she met him step for step, glaring when he jokingly let go of the door in her face. In retaliation, she kept his coffee on her side of the table when she sat down, and Tony immediately learned his lesson. 

  
After making a ‘gimme’ motion, MJ’s slowly returned the coffee. Were they in private, Tony knows for sure she would have made him beg for it. After a sip, Tony looks up with his camera ready smile, “Morning everyone, those who don’t know or for some reason ignored your PA’s when they told you —”

“Shameful—” MJ pipes in as she opens her laptop, but Tony continues as if she weren’t talking to and over him.

“This is Miss Jones. She works directly with Mrs. Stark and has taken over her workload during this time when Potts is out of the country—”

“ — Yeah, I’m the boss—”

“So she’ll be here to basically correct me when I’m wrong —”

“ — You’re always wrong—”

“ — Keep my coffee hostage —”

“ — Not at the rate you’re drinking it—”

“— And generally terrify and keep us on track. Questions?” Tony looks around at the visibly stunned group and internally cheers. This might actually be fun.

— 

After the second day of meetings, Tony felt exhausted. He hadn’t been so present during a meeting for  _ ages _ and had Michelle Jones to blame for enjoying it a smidgeon. He wasn’t going to tell her that though. 

“Alright kiddo, what do you say to eating out tonight? We deserve something better than pizza and thai, right?” Tony suggests this as he swings the door open for MJ, allowing the girl to move through first into the busier thoroughfare. He ignores everyone like usual, but takes a proud interest in the way MJ makes a little nodding acknowledgement to a couple people she is near. 

MJ hums and hahs, making Tony give her a glare she only grins at, “What were you thinking? Because I’ve heard from Pete about you’re unhealthy shawarma intake, and I’m not for it. Mystery meat can stay a mystery.”

Tony scoffs, “Fine, sushi?”

“Had that yesterday for lunch,”

“And you  _ didn’t invite me?!” _

“ _ You _ wouldn’t come out of the dungeon!”

Tony waves his hand, “Details Jones, you just didn’t want to share.”

“I couldn’t say you’re wrong.”

He glares as she pushes past him with a carefully hidden laugh, but Tony is also trying not to smile, so he lets it go.

“Fancy, or jeans and a sweatshirt?”

“We’re already dressed to impress, why not fancy?”

Which is how Tony and MJ found themselves hiding behind their menus in their (“Stylin’ suits”) as the paparazzi doubled back to take pictures of them slurping noodles and laughing at the expense of poor Don from accounting in that morning's meeting. Tony snuck them out the back, but not before MJ dumped their remaining dishes into a takeout box Tony still isn’t sure where she procured from, to hand to the guy sitting in the alley on their way to the car. 

—

With only two days left on their own, MJ and Tony had finally finished the last of their duo meetings. Tony wanted to celebrate with a movie, but MJ wanted to get cosy and read a book. So, Tony set up the living room on his floor with any and all blankets and pillows he could find into a massive nest, and told MJ to plop down with her book. He then proceeded to turn on a movie at a low volume he could still enjoy, while MJ could read without too much distraction under multiple layers of sherpa and cotton. He ignored her when she stuck her phone out and took a selfie of herself completely encapsulated in fluff. 

He also ignored when she fell asleep, continuing his movie without even bothering to comment when Friday asked if he wished to wake MJ to return her to her floor. 

He however could not ignore when he got a notification he was mentioned in a comment on MJ’s twitter. He pulled it up to find a picture of her in her cocoon with the caption: “IronDad made me a fort @ParkerPete @PepperPotts @IAmIronMan”. And of course the response from Peter being a series of exclamation points which made his chest tighten and the compulsion to stuff his phone into the fluff mountain around him. 

—

It being the last day before everything went back to normal, MJ excused Tony’s absence from Stark Industries when he announced he was going to be in the lab. She didn’t have much to do either as her tasks set aside by Pepper were finished and wrapped up already. She did her own tasks allocated to her daily, and decided to cash in early as well. She trudged over to Friday’s elevator, asking to be taking up to her own floor, please and thank you.

After practically throwing the pretty, flowing pant suit over a chair, MJ finds her old pair of jeans with the paint splatters and weird burn mark at the bottom on one leg hem. She pairs them with a fitted sweatshirt and a t-shirt of Peter’s underneath, and a very messy bun. But she feels so lazy now, that she barely remembers to grab her book, sketchpad and pencils before she slides back into the elevator and asks for the lab level.

Tony’s inside the lab, almost in the exact same spot she’d interrupted him in at the beginning of the week, though this time the FrankenMan suit is gone. He looks up when she arrives, and rather than a put out look or smirk she’d been given earlier in the week, she receives a smile worthy of the ones she’s seen flashed at Peter and Morgan, and her chest feels all warm. 

“Hey Scary, work all done?”

MJ goes and slouches in a chair probably meant for Peter, so she can look over his shoulder as he works, “Yup. Filed, categorized by colour and with pretty silver paper clips. Pepper may cry when she sees it.” Tony chuckles as he goes back to his work, the soft blue glow of the hologram lighting and shadowing his face. MJ decides not to bother him, and instead reclines in her chair and pulls out her sketchbook. 

It’s an hour later when Tony feels a weight on his shoulder, and looks over to find MJ’s head fallen down to rest on him, her eyes closed and mouth a little ajar in her sleep. He spots her sketchbook open, and smiles when he sees a few figures drawings surrounding a more complete sketch of his profile. He reaches over carefully to close the book and collect her pencils, not moving enough to disturb her. Once cleaned up, he presses a kiss into her curly head and continues his own work for another hour. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Figured I'd post this now, as I'm currently on break during training at school. And I know I won't want to post when I get home, as it's currently -38°C with an added wind chill (making it feel like -42°) and I will be a popsicle as soon as I leave the building.
> 
> School has started people! So the schedule for this story, like the first one, is sporadic and wild. Enjoy being surprised when I post :)


	4. The Abomination (aka The Hoodie)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :)   
> I'm sorry this is a sort of sillier chapter, but I wanted to post something during my break and the original idea for this one kind of got away from me.

It wasn’t uncommon for Peter Parker to be seen in a hoodie or jacket on days where most people were sweltering in short sleeves and shorts. He’s been teased about it mercilessly, but he couldn’t help it much, his stupid spideriness caused his human body to lose the ability to properly thermoregulate. He was cold  _ all the time _ . Never mind that it was June, he was  _ cold _ . 

Tony had caught onto this body temperature problem quickly, and after noting Peter’s habit of wearing the same sweater over and over again, he insisted on a new wardrobe shopping spree for the kid. Peter kicked up a fuss, but ultimately followed behind Pepper and May, sulking like a little kid through the mall as the women threw clothing at him to try on. The worst part though was this shopping spree stretched out into an entire  _ week _ of trying on clothes and coming home looking like a pack mule. Tony knew better than to let Pepper or May overhear him when he poked fun at the kid, aware he was on thin ice and could potentially be roped into the massive shopping week. 

MJ tagged along a couple of times, mostly because she enjoyed Peter being in a crisis that wasn’t life-threatening. But, she also appreciated shopping with two of her favourite women, and enjoyed herself during impromptu fashion walks Pepper demanded. 

It was on one such shopping day where Peter had begged and pleaded (and in the end pretty much dragged) Ned along with them, that MJ found  _ the one _ . Now, she would never admit to it, but MJ definitely went a bit Smeagol and whispered ‘My precious’ at the treasure she found buried so deep in the sale rack she thought it was part of the rack itself. The abomination (as it would soon be (aptly) christened by Tony) was a truly awful cross between the colour of a half-ripe peach and a muddy streak on the side of a car. It was fleecy and velvety at the same time, with uneven lumps of extra fleece padding the middle of the hoodie, making it flare out to just create a square shape. MJ didn’t understand it, but the longer she touched it and looked at it, she felt like she was meant to find it. So, she slipped it into her dressing room and after trying on all the prettier pieces she and Pepper and May had found, did she try on the peachy hoodie. 

And she practically melted. It was  _ soft _ ,  _ warm _ , and  _ delightful _ . How something so truly ugly was this comfortable was beyond her, but MJ had to step out and tell everyone immediately. 

Their reactions would have made her actually laugh out loud, but MJ was too mellowed out by this hoodie to notice everyone’s revulsed faces when she stepped out. 

“MJ honey, what the  _ hell _ is that thing?” Pepper asks first, her lip curled up showing her disgust over the thing. 

May was cocking her head to the side, “Is it a car shammy?” 

Ned squinted, “It looks like one, yeah…”

Peter, on the other hand, was staring at her, “How do you manage to find something that looks like it was donated fifty years ago in a branded store?” 

MJ felt affronted, even though she sort of agreed with their commentary. But no one was allowed to degrade her child in front of her like that.

“I love it. I’m buying it with my money dollars, and wearing it everywhere. This is a no washing, hands-off zone.” Pepper looks less than thrilled while May was now twisting her lips to hide her smirk. Ned was trying to carefully take a snap of her while Peter got curious and inches closer. MJ glared and full out slapped his hand away when he tried to reach out and pet it. 

She’s not proud of it. But she for sure hissed like a cat under her breath, “Mine.”

—

MJ refused to take off the oversized lumpy monstrosity of a hoodie for a full week, only discarding it before important Stark Industries business. Unfortunately, she lived with a sneaky sneak with superhuman powers that allowed her housemate to web up her sweater from the floor without her noticing and sneak it into their bedroom as she walked out the door for a meeting. 

And that was when Peter discovered the Abomination was glorious. 

He wore it every chance he could, which was every time MJ finally removed it. He had to be careful he always replaced it before she could get back, and that no one saw him wearing it. Firstly because it was MJ’s special abomination sweater, secondly because she terrified him, thirdly because it was butt-ass ugly. 

Suddenly, his sneakiness failed him, when Tony and Morgan walked onto his floor to see him lounging with his legs underneath the hoodie, munching on Doritos and watching the documentary MJ had started before work. 

“Ooh, busted Parker!” Tony cackled, taking a picture and running off as Peter yelped and gave chase, leaving Morgan laughing and clapping at her dad and brother. 

Tony gleefully shared the picture to MJ (and ok, everyone else) and watched his son’s sanity leave his eyes, realizing his girlfriend was going to kill him in minutes. 

“It was nice knowing you, kid. I’ll bring red and blue flowers to your funeral.” 

MJ was  _ not impressed _ . But, they found a compromise in discovering the abomination fit both of them at the same time, making for a very comfortable and fun movie night. 

—

Peter began wearing the sweater in public, as MJ couldn’t allow herself to do so, and only allowed him to if he was extremely careful (and by no means, allowed to go Spider-Manning). The press found the spectacle as disturbing as Pepper and everyone else had, but Peter and MJ knew the magic behind the hoodie abomination was worth it. 

It had some drawbacks, as Tony and Pepper refused to be seen with the thing, Tony very glibly stating, “I don’t want to be seen with the Thneed.” So Peter began purposefully wearing it around the lab as well. 

MJ wasn’t happy about this, but they compromised again by agreeing the abomination needed to be washed soon anyways, so Peter would be in charge of hand washing it every time after a messy lab experiment. 

On one such day, Peter was wearing the hoodie in public when he was running out for milkshakes and chips for the Star Wars marathon Ned and he was about to have. He rushed back as soon as possible, arriving just as Ned was getting himself comfortable, nachos and sausage rolls cooling on the table in front of him. 

Ned rolled his eyes when he saw Peter wearing the truly awful hoodie, “I can’t believe you two haven’t had someone burn that thing yet. It’s disgusting.”

Peter scoffs out, “We’ve washed it!”

“That’s not why it’s disgusting.”

“Whatever, you just don’t understand, man.”

Ned stares at Peter, his eyes squinting danerously, “Gimme,” he makes grabbing motions with his hands, stretched out towards Peter.

Peter looks at him like he’s gone insane, “No!”

“Yes! I want to see what you’re talking about!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“NO!”

—

Ned hadn’t moved from his reclined position in hours, and Tony was finally worried enough to go and poke the kid. Ned allowed the poke to jostle him, but merely let out a grunt to show he was alive. Tony allowed it as an answer, walking off with a shake of his head.

MJ blames Peter for them now having to share their hoodie with Ned as well, but Peter just smiled and tried to explain it was their best-friend hoodie, it was meant to be shared by all three of them. MJ claimed the hoodie for the rest of that week in retaliation for this.


	5. Shopping for Morgan's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: this was the second prompt I made and wrote during I Think You Mean Jones-Parker. But I kept it deciding when I split the fics up that it would fit better in this one.

In any other scenario, Peter abhorred shopping. There had been many years and moments now where Tony, or sometimes even Pepper, would drag Peter to go fancy-clothes shopping. Many suits, tailors, and people specifically obsessed with finding him shoes ‘that match your gorgeous eyes, Mr. Parker!’ had ruined the experience of shopping for Peter forever. The few years that remained of being a ‘young adult’ had Peter wishing to never have to step foot in another clothing store, especially since he now had so many clothes and outfits he felt bad and ended up donating a bag every other week to shelters. 

Today’s shopping trip, however, Peter could go on every day. Its purpose wasn't to look good on a press tour or meeting at SI; it was much more important. Morgan's birthday was tomorrow, and the party Tony was throwing for her was happening the day after over the weekend. Peter had been called to 'get your butt down upstairs right after work, Parker, or I'm telling your sister you forgot her birthday'. Not that he had. Or could with Morgan texting him every day for a month with a countdown until her second birthday (using her dad's phone and help, since Pepper was still sticking up for no phones until Morgan's tenth). So Peter found himself on a shopping excursion for an almost two-year-old, who had a billionaire father that had never really held back in giving her whatever she wanted (within reason: ie; "No planes or cars until you're older, sweetpea"). 

The best part about this shopping trip? Toy stores. 

The even better part of this trip that Peter was unaware was happening until an hour ago? Michelle Jones. 

His girlfriend had heard from Pepper that Peter was shopping for a Morgan present, and had commandeered his car to go with him. So the two had donned their respective civilian clothes. Unknown to the press, civilian clothing was the same thing they'd had for years, so the only addition was a ball cap for Peter, and some thick-rimmed glasses for MJ. Peter was still trying to figure out if she really needed glasses, but MJ was too slippery to let him know for sure. Because of MJ’s constant wardrobe preference changes, it was getting progressively more difficult for photographers to spot them. 

"Here looks good," MJ announces, tightening her hold on his fingers and dragging him into a store in the mall. Peter followed willingly, grinning at the huge stuffed animals displayed in the window. 

“Oh yes, this store already screams ‘Morgan’.” Peter quips, trying to pull MJ to the left immediately, but MJ keeps her hold on his hand, taking him closer to the back of the store. “Wait, there were bears! They looked cute and cuddly!”

“You and I both know that a stuffed bear won’t last two days in the hands of a Stark. It will be ripped to pieces and stuffed with tech before Pepper can stop them.” Peter has to nod, acknowledging that the Stark father-daughter duo are a little bit tech crazy. “And we’re not getting any of those cheesy science kits, Morgan would just laugh.”

“Ok, I’m starting to get that this is going to be more difficult than I want it to be,” Peter grumbles but stops in his tracks when he spotted something. “MJ, look. It’s a  _ me _ .”

MJ stops trying to pull him along, instead turning to look at him with her usual grumpy face, but this time looking more confused. “A  _ what _ ?” 

“A me! Look, I’m an action figure!” Peter snatched the packaging holding the little Spider-Man action figure from the shelf, holding it out to MJ like it was a puppy he found in a dumpster. “MJ, we have to get the mini-me!” 

“Seriously Parker, how you’ve kept a secret identity since high school baffles me.” MJ rolls her eyes fondly, taking the toy out of her boyfriend’s hands in order to continue walking through the store. “What else are we getting? It can’t just be a small version of your alter ego. She’s already got the real deal that will bend to her every whim.” 

Peter sticks his tongue out behind her, happy to know she doesn’t have the weird sixth sense Pepper does to know when Tony is sassing her behind her back. “She likes Lego.”

“Of course she does, Tony and Pepper left her alone with you.” Peter hums, knowing that’s exactly why the young Stark likes Lego. The two end up in an aisle specifically set with hundreds of different Lego sets, some of which had Peter almost drooling. “Focus Peter, age-appropriate Lego.”

“Right, yup,” Peter dragged his eyes away from the new Star Wars sets to find something Morgan could do on her own. Not that he’d let her do it on her own, but you know, the illusion had to be there. He skipped the purple and pink sets, deeming them unnecessary, especially when the little girl he was shopping for was more likely than not outside in the mud or helping her dad fix a car. The silly little cityscape Lego’s were also a no go since Morgan had a distinct dislike for the city, and always tried to convince Peter to move to the lakehouse with her, so he could leave the ‘smelly place’ he lived in. 

“Jeez, I didn’t realize there were so many to choose from,” MJ grumbled, poking at a box that showed a variety of minifigures. 

“Now you see why Ned and I have so many. They just keep bringing in cooler ones, how are we supposed to stop?” MJ just smirks, trying to hide the fond smile she has for her adorable boyfriend. Peter still sees it but has learned not to bring it to attention when this happens, so instead takes her hand and swung their arms between them as they continue down the Lego aisle. 

“Hey, there are car sets! Morgan would like these, wouldn’t she? What’s the model her and Tony are working on right now? Maybe that one’s here…” MJ trailed off, trying to search through the facings of Lego cars while also trying to recall which car the duo had started at the beginning of the week. Peter was no help though. His attention had been stolen by a very specific section of the Lego aisle. “Pete?”

“We’re buying these.”

“Which one?” MJ asks, still looking through the car sets of Lego, trying to ignore the way Peter is tapping his hand against her back. “Loser, stop poking me. Which one are we getting? I swear if you say ‘all’ I’m leaving with this one,” MJ stands with one finally clutched in her hands, to look over at Peter and see what he had been talking about. “Aw damn it, that’s what we’re getting.” 

Without further ado, MJ marches to the wall of Superhero themed Legos and snatches the box that shows a mini Lego Spider-Man fighting off some aliens on a building that looked a bit like the bottom half of the Stark Tower. Without pausing, she also grabs the one that has a small Tony Stark surrounded by Iron Man suits that MJ imagines is the Lego makers idea of what Tony’s lab looks like. Mid-turn back to Peter, MJ notices another Iron Man set that has a tiny Pepper Potts and can’t stop herself from taking that one too, not caring who else is in the set with her. If anything, She can just take out the Pepper Potts and add it to the other one. Looking up once her arms are full, MJ finds Peter staring at her with a loopy look on his face.

“This better not be one of your fantasies Parker, or I’m leaving you after Morgan’s birthday party.” Peter quickly follows her as she continues to the checkout, Spider-Man action figure and superhero Lego sets in hand. She also places the car set she found at the till ignoring the bemused smirk the cashier has as he rings everything up. Peter finally reaches MJ, adding something else to the pile. He spots the car Lego and looks at MJ in confusion.

“We don’t need this one too, we’re already getting her too much.” Peter goes to take it away, but MJ gives his hand a little smack.

“That one’s for Tony,” She says, ignoring the double take the cashier gives, looking intently at Peter now. Peter, on the other hand, is laughing too hard to care or notice that MJ unabashedly hands over Peter’s black card that Tony refuses to take back.


	6. Makeup Artist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ's media debut as Pepper's assistant is a bit nerve-wracking, but Peter is there to save the day.

“Fifteen minutes, Mrs. Stark,” a frenzied looking intern poked her head into the room, barely making eye contact before racing back out into the hall. Pepper didn’t even bother acknowledging the already gone woman, too focused on reading something or other on her Starkpad. Her hair was finished, primped and pinned up in an elegant but businesslike swoop; makeup was natural but gave her a golden glow; clothing was a gorgeous blue dress Morgan had helped pick out. The two-year-old had begged to come with, especially since MJ  _ and _ Peter were going, but Pepper had had to tell the girl she couldn’t come since this place wasn’t kid-friendly. Morgan had understood but was still grumpy. Tony had finally convinced her it was better to stay home anyway because they would get to watch Mommy and MJ on the tv while eating juice pops on the couch. Pepper had furiously told Morgan not to sit on the white couch with a juice pop, but honestly no one believed the innocent smile Morgan gave her mother. 

Pepper Potts-Stark was ready to go, casually and confidently waiting for her call to the stage. Her assistant, however, was still nervous. 

“I can’t feel my knees,” MJ whispered-yells, though Peter is pretty sure he’s still the only one who heard her. The two had left Pepper to her dressing room on the pretense that they were going to walk around the very loud set a few times, trying to kill time. In fact, MJ had been freaking out about her first media appearance, not as Peter’s girlfriend, but as Pepper Potts’ assistant, and very far in the future, successor. 

Peter took her hand in both of his, “Are knees something you can usually feel?” He could barely hide the smirk, glad MJ was too distracted by her distress to notice he was laughing at her. 

“I don't know, but I’m thinking about it a lot now, and I can’t remember what I usually do with my knees,” Peter tries really hard not to laugh, well aware he had been more nervous the first time he and Tony had appeared on tv. Tony had just made him eat a bunch of sugar that made him hyper and excited rather than nervous. In hindsight, this made the crash  _ very bad _ , but it had worked on young teenage Peter. Twenty-year-old MJ probably wouldn’t appreciate the same method. MJ was a much more put together person, and generally, Peter had learned to take cues from her for many different moments in their life so far.

“What can I do to help?” he asks, rubbing his thumb up and down the side of her hand. 

“Take me home?” MJ asks breathily, still looking a little green.

“If that’s really what you want, I’ll hijack the car right under Happy’s nose, and we can be back home eating ramen by the time Pepper is on. I can’t promise we won’t end up in the emergency room first, but we’d get home eventually.” 

MJ gave him a very warm smile, the one Peter can feel in the tips of his toes when he receives one, “I know you would, but I can’t leave Pepper. That would be a dick move.”

“Yeah, it kinda would,” Peter nods, again just going with MJ’s lead. Eventually, she would figure it out herself, but he was always happy to help her work through things. 

MJ chews her bottom lip, obviously forgetting the newly applied lipstick one of the makeup people had finished a few minutes ago, “I should probably suck it up and go on, huh?”

“I mean, probably,” Peter shrugs as a quiet alarm goes off that seems to kickstart every single backstage person into action, “you’ve kinda run out of time anyway. Should have taken my kidnapping idea seriously.” MJ glares half-heartedly but still gives Peter a tremulous smile. The two keep walking until they get to Pepper’s door again, where the woman of the hour is standing waiting. She gives them both a warm smile, but can’t stop the small frown tugging at her brow when she sees MJ.

“MJ, sweetheart you’ve got a bit…” Pepper points at her own lip, making MJ frown and touch her bottom lip. She’d been chewing her lip during her worry, and smudged her perfectly applied lipstick the makeup lady had done earlier. Peter already knows this is about to turn into another reason for MJ to think she can’t do this, so he’s already reaching into MJ’s jacket pocket when her hands start to fidget and make tense fists.

“Michelle, come here,” Peter says, causing MJ to turn immediately because Peter almost never calls her Michelle, only to be grabbed under the chin and have her face turned up. While MJ had been a couple of inches taller than Peter throughout their high school years, Peter had suddenly grown into his high metabolism and sprouted up in the past two years. Now, MJ had to look up just slightly to be able to look him in the face, and usually, she didn’t like it. Now, though, in the midst of her internal (and perhaps external) panic, the hand cupping her chin, and the amused but focused look on Peter’s face was definitely a pro to her now tall-ish boyfriend. 

Right in front of a grinning Pepper, Peter uncaps the lipstick the makeup person had left with MJ and begins very gently reapplying the makeup to her lips. Too confused and thrown off by this action, MJ doesn’t even realize she has completely relaxed, nor has she noticed the stagehand waiting to take her and Pepper to the stage.

“Little more on the corner, Pete, yup, good job honey. Thank you very much, let’s go MJ,” Pepper says, patting Peter on the shoulder as she takes the lipstick back to tuck it into MJ’s jacket herself, then collecting her assistant and following the bemused stagehand. 

(If MJ was later complimented on the colour of her lips later by a member of the show, Pepper won’t tell anyone that the girl couldn’t stop blushing. Neither will she tell either of them how many people behind the scenes had seen the sweet moment between the two, and melted into little puddles of goo.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for continuing to read this at my slow-ass pace I need to do this. It's one of the many things keeping me sane right now, so I always appreciate every little word someone comments for me. I've only started believing people when they tell me I'm a pretty good author, so it's a new feeling to appreciate your appreciation :) 
> 
> Hope everyone is happy and healthy right now, and in the future.


	7. Avengers friendship map: part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of MJ figuring out how everyone seems to have weird connections with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, and thank you for clicking here after 84 years...  
> I know everyone has been waiting for an update for forever, and I'm sorry I went a bit silent, but I really lost touch with writing during the beginning of the pandemic closing everything in Canada. I am a 'during school writer' and usually fall away from writing during the summer, but this was an obviously different occasion with different circumstances. 
> 
> My internship ended early and I had extra work to suddenly do, I was stressed out trying to handle my volunteer work with the kids parents trying to talk to me, as well as suddenly being unemployed.
> 
> And not to be a complainer, but my summer got worse. My grandpa was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and I wasn't feeling up to writing my usual fluffy friendly stories. 
> 
> Thank you for continuing to find my story, and commenting and liking it. I receive everything and read it all, and I looked forward to continuing this story.
> 
> Because I love this universe, and I'm not ready to leave it. It just won't be done as soon as I Think You Mean Jones-Parker was. 
> 
> Thank you, and enjoy.

It wasn’t very often Tony had all his family together at once. Of course, he knew Peter and MJ were only a few seconds away on their own floor but he missed them on a normal day with them both being busy with work and ‘adult life’ as Peter called it. MJ just said it was because she made him help with the cooking now, and he was apparently against the idea of having to cook food when there were perfectly good pizza places on Friday’s speed dial (“Adult life sucks, Tony!” “Pete, you literally just played paintball with Steve an hour ago.”). Tony silently agreed but enjoyed his life now too much to voice this opinion aloud in front of Pepper and the Mini Pepper (as well as Morgan, since Pepper was also having trouble rounding their daughter’s disapproval of anything not pasta or pizza). 

Which is why, when Tony said he was looking forward to the arrival of the Avengers to the Tower, he was being completely sincere. He missed having a full house (Tower, whatever). He missed his teenagers slouched over the couches every hour of the day, he missed consistent lab time with Peter, he missed catching sight of a drawing MJ had left on the counter for him to see. And he missed his baby being a baby, but Morgan was already two and getting bigger every day. As his chickens were hatching and leaving the nest (not that he’d be letting MJ and Peter fly further than the Tower anyway), he was missing his friends now too. No matter how much they infuriate him sometimes. 

So, the Avengers, new and old, were on their way to stay for extended vacations. Some were to be here a few weeks, some a month and a couple coming and going (Natasha, because no one traps the Black Widow).

And Peter was  _ excited _ too. 

“Tony, please handle your man-child, he’s  _ literally _ bouncing off the walls upstairs.” MJ strode into the living room with a very annoyed look on her face, her arms filled with her work laptop, a tablet, paper files, her sketchbook, pencils, pens, and a novel. If her arms weren’t so long, Tony was sure she would be carrying everything down in bags there was so much. 

Morgan wasn’t much better as she flopped around in Tony’s arms, squealing about ‘Auntie Nat’, ‘Unca Stevie’, and ‘Sammy’. And no, no one is completely sure why Sam was demoted from uncle status, nor why he still seemed to be on Morgan’s faves list. Even Sam was confused. Hearing MJ come in however had the little girl rushing off her father and collapsing into MJ’s legs, begging for ups. 

“Unfortunately I’ve been stuck under Miss Morguna here, who has turned into a Spider-baby over the course of the last twelve hours. I blame Pepper for spilling the beans on ‘You-Know-Who’.”

MJ smirks at Tony over her pile of things, dragging Morgan along as she gets close enough to the couch to dump everything safely, “Pepper told Morgan about Voldemort?”

“Don’t say his name!” Tony shouts, playfully covering his ears as Morgan all but climbs MJ’s legs (a feat in and of itself, MJ’s had supermodels complain about their short legs in comparison to hers). MJ rolls her eyes at the other man-child of the Tower, picking up his actual child for some small person snuggles. 

“Speaking of they-who-must-not-be-named, when are we expecting them? I’ve got a few last minute things to finish before we relax this weekend, and was hoping I could catch Pepper—”

“You have half an hour, Jones, and not a minute more before Friday locks all tablets and cuts off workaholics from Stark Industries.”

MJ’s eyes grew wide, and she tried valiantly to scramble for her tablet only a few inches from her, but the added effort of Morgan cuddling her tighter than a hunger-stricken monkey had the struggle become more entertaining than Tony wished to express. Pepper of course had to ruin the fun as she entered the room and saw MJ’s predicament. Scooping her daughter out of her assistant’s arms, Pepper sat down between MJ and Tony, Morgan under one arm and her own tablet propped in the other. 

“Morgan dear, can you help mommy decide on a pretty colour for my new filing system?” Pepper threw up a rainbow of colours on the holo, each showing as a floating blob of paint-like colour. Morgan’s eyes went wide and sort of trance-like as she poked and prodded some of the blobs. Tony was once again thankful Morgan had received her mother’s penchant for art otherwise the poor thing would be blessed with his colour scheming.

MJ took this moment to free herself from the confines of the Stark’s cloud-like couch (courtesy of Peter Parker, who introduced Tony to the wonders of couch shopping) and snatched up her tablet, working on it with fury. 

Unfortunately for MJ, this was also the moment Peter emerged from the elevator, sleep ruffled hair and groggy eyes locking in on everyone bundled on the couch. Tony literally watched the kid move from half asleep to fully awake and moving fast.

“Hey! Why wasn’t I invited to the cuddle party?” Morgan’s head whipped up towards her big brother, all colours, mother and big sister forgotten.

“PETEY!” And suddenly Peter was being attacked by the Spider-Monkey and the three true adults were left on the couch. Only, Tony was definitely in the mood to not be an adult at the moment.

“Excuse me, why didn’t I get a hug like that from you, Miss Morguna?” Tony pouts at his daughter, who would usually come running to give him a hug and make him feel better, but this morning she only held on tighter and gave her dad a cocky grin.

“Petey betta hugs, Daddy!” Peter chomped so hard on his cheek, Tony was certain he was bleeding. Pepper and MJ snickered next to him but neither said anything as he glared at all four of them. Morgan was clamped to Peter’s chest, proud as a peacock for beating her dad as her brother held her in a magnificent hug.

“That’s right Mo, I  _ do _ have better hugs.” Peter squeezes the little girl, giving Tony a smug look of his own as he carts Morgan off to the kitchen, likely to sugar her up and gain more of her affection. 

Tony took all of two seconds to turn to the two girls left on the couch, “I want him out of my will.” 

Pepper rolls her eyes, both of them ignoring MJ snorting, “No you don’t.”

“Yes. I’ve decided everything Peter was getting now goes to MJ. She’s my favourite now.”

MJ hums, “I’d be alright with that.”

“You’d have to join me in the lab though, cause Peter’s outta there now too.”

“Can I read?”

“...Sure.”

“All right.”

Pepper shakes her head, selecting one of the peuce shaded colour blobs still displayed from Morgan, “Whoever let you two get along needs to come and atone for their sins. Peter and I honestly don’t know how it happened. We’ve had meetings about you.”

MJ lets out a giggle that has Tony cracking an honest smile as well, enjoying the back and forth. Getting MJ to relax and become part of their little cobbled together family was a proud moment for Tony, and hearing her come out of her shell around him and Pepper always melted his heart. 

“I have no idea what you mean, honey.” Pepper only rolls her eyes at him, but he can see the warmth behind them as well, and feels so content in that moment. 

Then the elevator doors open, and chaos invites itself inside.

“PETER!” two little voices scream into the hall, followed by the pattering feet of Lila and Nathaniel Barton storming into view of those on the couch before bolting into the kitchen. Peter made a small noise of surprise before being tackled and now covered with three giggling children, all clambering to get a space close enough to poke their noses into his face. 

“Um— help?!” Peter managed to get out before being covered with Nathaniel’s sticky fingers, the little boy giggling maniacally.

Tony, Pepper and MJ then saw the remaining Bartons enter the apartment floors, the eldest of the Barton children, Cooper, looking around the room with a bored expression on his face. Tony hid a smirk, knowing the surely tween was always embarrassed to be caught showing attention or interest in things that could be deemed ‘uncool’. He also knew that Cooper enjoyed Peter’s attention just as much as the littles did, but didn’t want anyone to know it. 

“They’re in the kitchen, Coop.” Clint said as he came up behind his son, his wife Laura a step behind him. Cooper just shrugs and moves to sit, “Whatever.” mumbled as he drags his bag with him. 

Clint looks over to Laura who only shrugs and gives a strained smile, so Clint looks at Tony and sighs, “Please explain how you have a teenager that enjoys conversing and finds general amusement or joy in life.”

Snorting, Tony rolls his eyes dramatically, “Well, firstly he’s sadly no longer a gangly teenager, but a strapping young twenty-year-old with the mind of a toddler - a brilliant toddler, but a toddler nonetheless - and I still have no answers for the sweet and naivety that is Peter Benjamin Parker. Secondly, I didn’t raise said Baby-Adult, his aunt did. Thirdly, I  _ do  _ have a no-longer-a-teenager that is the antithesis of Peter, so I can say I somewhat understand your struggles.” Tony grins sharply, making Pepper sigh and mutter to herself. He doesn’t point it out, but he definitely hears something like “ _ Don’t know what I was saying… ‘get along’, yeah right” _ , just before MJ pipes up from behind her tablet.

“I resemble that remark.”

“Thank God, my pithy remark wasn’t lost on you then.”

“Screw you Stark,”

“Such language, Miss Jones. Do you kiss Peter with that mouth?”

“I thought you didn’t want to hear about Peter’s ‘trysts’ with me?” 

“Hell no, that is not what I was getting at—”

“Cause I could tell you your darling angel child isn’t very angel like if you want.”

“No, I’m plugging my ears. Pepper make it stop.” Pepper sighs, and flips languidly through her tablet as Laura watches on, highly amused. Clint looks extremely lost. 

Tony glares at MJ, “Demon.”

“Man-child.”

“... _ Mean  _ demon.”

“Makes sense if I’m the direct  _ antithesis _ of Peter. Fancy word, by the way, where’d you hear Pepper say that?”

Tony gasps, “I read too!”

“Yeah… when Pepper makes you.” MJ suddenly found her tablet ripped out of her hands, and pout-glared at Tony, who looked much too proud of himself for tricking her, “Excuse me, I wasn’t done with that.”

“Pretty sure I said something about a time limit earlier, so yeah, you’re done. And you were mean to me, so.” Tony shrugs and locks the tablet, tossing it between him and Pepper. 

MJ continues to glare as she states plainly, “I was in the middle of the Zara-Schmidt case, which I will remind you is a ten million dollar deal, and one your wife insisted is completed by tonight.”

Tony freezes, his smug grin falling as he looks down at the tablet, eyes flickering to MJ and back to the tablet, before looking at Pepper. Pepper doesn’t say a thing, just continues to flick her finger on her own tablet. The room is silent, aside from barely suppressed snickers escaping from Laura. Tony and MJ stare one another down for a few more seconds before Tony grabs the tablet and flings it back at her, slouching into the couch after, “Only until it’s finished, then Friday’s shutting it down.” 

MJ catches it flawlessly, turning it on without a comment aside from, “Thank you,”

“And I’m rewriting Peter back into the will. You get nothing Jones.”

“I’ll just marry Peter, and still get everything.”

“I hate you.”

“Say that to my face in front of Morgan and Peter.”

“ _ I hate you _ .”

“Good one.”

“Ok!” Pepper tosses her tablet onto the coffee table, standing with a light clap of her hands, “Clint, Laura, this is Michelle Jones. MJ, Clint and Laura, and their eldest son Cooper is just over there. Say hello,”

“Hello.” MJ gives a sickly sweet smile to Clint, but a more genuine one to Laura with a small wink that has the woman turning to hide her laughter at her husband’s face in front of the terrifying young adult. 

Clint looked so thunderstruck, even Tony was cracking a smile at the super spy, “Um, hello Miss Jones, I think we met briefly before?” 

MJ frowned a bit, “Did we?”

“Uh yeah, we almost met last time we were all together, but I remember you were asleep and Peter didn’t want to wake you.”

Tony nods sagely, “Smart.”

MJ smiles more genuinely, “Yes, very smart.”

The small lapse in conversation allowed Peter to emerge from the kitchen, all three kids latched onto him in some way. Morgan was on his arm hanging off like a little monkey, Lila was sitting on a foot with her limbs wrapped around his leg and her squishy cheek smushed against his thigh, and little Nate was sitting on his shoulders, sticky fingers weaved through his hair. Everyone in the sitting room looked over to see this with Peter looking somehow dishevelled but highly amused.

“Morning Bartons.”

Laura finally lets loose a laugh, coming forward to collect her brood. Nate lets go rather easily to be transferred to his mother’s arms, but Lila is more elusive. Peter waves Laura off, “Don’t worry about it, I usually have Morgan all over me in the mornings anyway.”

“Still, Lila, did you  _ ask _ Peter if it was alright?” Laura asks her daughter and receives a smirk but a small shake of the head from the girl as she lets go of Peter’s leg and instead rushes to the couch where she lands on Tony. Tony gives Lila a cuddle immediately, which sets off Morgan at seeing another little girl steal her daddy’s cuddles. 

Peter now free of all monkeys greets Clint with a slap to the shoulder before falling into the couch next to MJ, “What’s all this I hear about Tony’s will?”

“Well,” MJ hums into his shoulder, rubbing her chin across the soft fabric, “I was told you were a brat and therefore I was going to receive all your inheritances.”

“Huh,” Peter says, unconsciously tugging MJ into his side for a morning snuggle of their own, “but I could just marry you and get everything anyways.”

“That’s what I said when he threatened to give everything back to you.”

“We sure showed him.”

“Yeah we did.” They pull off a no-look high-five and snuggle back into the couch. Pepper finally bursts into laughter, Laura not far behind her. Tony still tries to fight it, but can’t stop letting a chuckle out himself. 

Clint shakes his head, already feeling more worn out and exhausted than he did at home with his three young kids.

* * *

The Bartons were followed by Steve and Bucky about two hours later, leaving enough time for all the children to calm themselves and become settled with all their ‘cousins’. Pepper and Laura were eating chips at the kitchen counter, giggling over Lila and Nate tripping over each other to play with Morgan, all while Cooper tried to hide the fact he was watching Peter and MJ for cues, whether they knew or not. MJ took a sip of water, Coop needed a drink. Peter laughed at something Clint or Tony said, Cooper broke out in a smile. It was cute, and was giving Pepper and Laura a good show.

Steve and Bucky arriving gave the kids a break from one another, crawling all over their uncles and demanding attention. 

“Uncle Stevie! Pick me up!!” Lila launched herself at the Captain, giving Steve barely anytime to drop his bag before catching the girl and swinging her up onto his shoulders. Bucky chuckled as he was in turn attacked by Nate crawling up his leg and Morgan launching herself from the couch to try and climb him similarly to Lila and Steve. 

“Hey guys, welcome to the zoo. Pamphlets are at the door, maps to bedrooms included, and thank god it’s almost feeding time.” Tony sighs, standing to in fact find snacks for the kids. MJ chuckles and finally closes her tablet, having finished her work after begging Friday to take her side over Tony’s and let her finish. She stands to follow Tony into the kitchen, leaving the space next to Peter open which Cooper takes to his advantage to scurry over and tuck himself next to the older boy. Laura snickers at her son while Pepper just rolls her eyes with a smile.

Peter ignored the obvious Mom-Peanut gallery and threw his arm around Cooper, “Hey man, what happened with that level you were telling me about last time we talked? Cause I was telling Ned, and he said—”

* * *

Natasha somehow slipped in without anyone really noticing until she was leaning over MJ’s shoulder at the kitchen counter, “I think you’ve somehow gotten better since I last saw you drawing, мой дорогой.”

Everyone jumped aside from MJ, who just hums and thanks her quietly, focused on her task of drawing Peter and Cooper. The boys were crowded around Cooper’s phone, watching some kind of video Cooper had made for school. Hearing Natasha’s voice however finally broke Cooper from Peter’s side, launching himself at his aunt leaps and bounds before his siblings. 

Natasha bundles the teenager into her side, squeezing him tighter than anyone else is allowed to. Natasha is literally the only person (aside from Peter) who gets to treat him like a little kid, and no one can fault him for it.

“It’s good to see you, моя любовь.” She smiles softly as she pulls in the other two, giving them a large hug all together and individual snuggles after. Nate stays in her arms, but Lila goes back to Morgan and Bucky, and Cooper sidles over to his mom silently needing some more mom time. 

Carrying Nate with her, Natasha goes and collects her hugs from Clint and Laura (and if Cooper snuck another hug, she wouldn’t tell) and a quick air kiss with Pepper who had suddenly found herself with a handful of Morgan. She then goes to Tony who gives her their usual nod of respect and a “Romanoff.” and “Stark.”

Peter rolls his eyes at their greeting and gives Natasha a huge smile, “Hi Nat, did you just get in?” 

Natasha just shrugs so Peter takes it she can’t say. MJ moves back over to the couch to join the conversation, taking her drawing pad with her and continuing to shade her last sketch, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tony greet someone so normally.”

Peter snorts, “Stoicism is normal?” he pauses and looks up at his girlfriend with a sneaky grin, “Nevermind, forgot who I was talking to.”

MJ gives him an elbow to the stomach for his trouble, Natasha grinning at them, “We’re old friends,”

“Really?” MJ cocks her head, clearly intrigued. Tony takes this moment to come into the conversation as well, plopping onto the couch next to Natasha and Nate, accepting the boy’s gummy smile with a winning grin of his own. “How long have you known each other?”

Peter looked up with a stressed look on his face, “And if this is a story that is going to be gross, I don’t want to know it.”

Nat and Tony give him droll looks before Tony says, “We met before the whole Avengers thing. The year I revived the Stark Expo.”

“Oh.” MJ says at the same time Peter whispers, “That was a good year until you know, I almost died.”

“Okay… coming back to  _ that _ later— “ Tony points at Peter then swings his finger to MJ, “what’s with the oh?”

MJ tucks her pad away, and Peter knows she’s ready to talk seriously now, “It just made me think— how did you guys all meet? You really didn’t know each other until the Avengers?”

Tony groans playfully, Natasha smacking his bicep in retaliation. Steve and Bucky look over and grimace through a smile (Bucky’s looking more pained as Lila continues to ‘braid’ his hair), “This is about to be the craziest story, Jones. I hope you’re ready.”

“Ignore him,” Natasha says as she shifts Nate around on her lap, then postures like she’s begun to give a report for a mission, “I met Anthony Edward Stark while undercover for SHIELD as Natalie Rushman, hoping to be employed as his new assistant after he made his current assistant, Virginia “Pepper” Marie Potts. This was under Director Fury’s direction in order to gain Iron Man for the upcoming Avengers Initiative, of which there was no immediate plan to have used. However, Tony learned my true name after I gave him a shot to stop the palladium poisoning from his arc reactor reaching his bloodstream. After he got his life sorted again, we parted ways but I don’t think Tony quite trusted me for a few more years after that stunt.” 

MJ is staring at Natasha, looking so enthralled that Peter is almost certain he’s going to have to drag her away from the Black Widow by her cold, dead hands tonight. “ _ No. Way. _ Oh my god! Tony!” She stares at the man, a grin on her face that makes Tony a bit nervous, “you got mind-fucked by the Black Widow!”

“Hey, little ears firstly. Second, I’d like to see you have this woman walk in and  _ not _ get sucked in. There’s a reason she’d named after a deadly fucking spider.”

Natasha, Clint, and Bucky snort out a laugh while everyone else chuckles as Morgan looks at her dad. Tony looks back at his daughter and sighs, pointing his finger at one of Friday’s cameras, “Friday, add a dollar to the Swear Jar.”

“Yes Boss,”

Clint smirks at Tony, “MJ doesn’t have to tip the swear jar?”

“MJ doesn’t swear so much to have the need for a swear jar.” Tony throws a couch cushion at the chortling Clint, but has no objects left in his arsenal to stop Steve from chuckling. Bucky takes this time to dislodge Lila from his hair and set the little girl off to go and play with Morgan again, both girls still giggling about hearing Morgan’s daddy and big sister swear in front of them. 

“Besides,” Bucky pipes up, having everyone swivel around to listen, “the Black Widow is a title earned from the Red Room, not because of Natalia.”

Everyone’s eyes are wide as dinner plates, staring at Bucky as the man with a silver arm and braids in his hair sinks into the couch as if he didn’t just release a truth bomb on everyone. Clint’s eyes are bouncing back and forth between Natasha and Bucky, eyes shrewdly looking for  _ something _ . Steve looks terribly confused, while Tony, Pepper, Peter and MJ are just shocked. 

“Natalia?” Steve finally asks what everyone is thinking, but Bucky just shrugs and Natasha looks somewhere between murderous and amused. Clint glares at her, and she only smiles back at him. No one says anything, though MJ nearly squeaks when Clint whispers to himself, “ _ Still don’t know how old… 1940?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for sticking with me, and I hope this chapter was enough to make up for the long silence from me. 
> 
> Please continue to be the lovely people you have been, and know that I am here to support all and make sure everyone is comfortable with my content. If there is something you find controversial, wrong, or insensitive, I want to know so I can change it to suit.   
> Racist comments are wrong comments and are not allowed or wanted near this site or story.
> 
> We'll see you for part 2 soonish :)


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